Galveston wrestles with future of beach property

GALVESTON, Texas — From his ninth-floor condo balcony, Walter Preble can look across Seawall Boulevard to a jumbled scene of sunbathers and colorful beach umbrellas, of parking lots and undeveloped plots, of a fast-food joint, a beachwear shop and an abandoned building battered by Hurricane Ike.

He agrees the city could make better use of this mile-or-so-long slip of Gulf frontage known as Stewart Beach.

“This is the most valuable piece of real estate on the whole island and we use it as a parking lot,” Preble said.

But how best to redevelop Stewart Beach has become a vexing question here, six years after Ike and the ensuing recession derailed city-approved plans to add a boardwalk and spruce up the public portion of the beach. Now that tourism, along with the broader economy, has rebounded, developers and landowners, city and parks officials and nearby residents have competing ideas about what to do next.

“Business is very good and the economy is very healthy — both on the west and east end,” said Tom Schwenk, president of the San Jacinto Neighborhood Association. “Galveston is a strong island community. People are proud of being born on the island. We all really want the best for Galveston, but people have different opinions of what’s the best option.”

The Galveston Park Board has been studying revisions to the Stewart Beach and East Beach master plans for the past eight months and will unveil some initial findings on Tuesday. Executive director Kelly de Schaun called it an effort to improve the parks and increase services and amenities for tourists.

Earlier this year, the City Council approved zoning changes for several Stewart Beach parcels from “resort” to “recreation.” In resort-zoned areas, buildings cannot be higher than three stories. Those built in an area zoned for recreation can be five stories, or 70 feet — taller if the city issues a special use permit.

The thought of a high-rise obstructing his view worries Preble, who lives in the Emerald Isle condos. But he said the implications are greater. He said adding a high-rise on the beach side of the Seawall would create a domino effect, with one hotel being built after another.

“It will ruin it if we put something up in front of it,” Preble told the Houston Chronicle. “Once we put a high-rise building there, we’ve lost it for the next 100 years. Once you build hotels, you’ve created a concrete canyon and more will come.”

There are no plans to build on the rezoned plots yet, although it was landowners who petitioned for zoning changes to allow for greater flexibility in attracting hotel development.

One of those whose property is now zoned recreation, former assistant city manager Benny Davis, is a local developer whose family has owned the plot for decades, since before height restrictions were in place. He said several hotel groups have expressed interest in building on the site and one would petition the city for an exemption to build a high-rise.

Since that City Council rezoning vote, Galvestonians have elected a new mayor and replaced three of their six council members.

Council newcomer Ralph McMorris has been shopping an alternate plan for the beach to neighborhood groups, the Park Board and his colleagues in city leadership. His plan, which he calls “South Beach, Galveston,” would create a natural park, picnic areas, a boardwalk, restaurants, shops and bike paths. It requires the city rolling back the recent zoning change and then buying the private lots back to either redevelop or sell to developers as part of a master plan.

“Galveston is an interesting area, folks want to develop here and make a lot of money and people who live here like the old place,” McMorris said. “We realized this could really be exceptional. If new development is done properly, then it will enhance the whole area.”

McMorris says his plan would make money for the city in the long run, attract tourism, maintain an open beach and protect front-row views. He compared the master plan approach to properties in South Beach in Miami, Charleston, S.C., and the San Antonio Riverwalk.

De Schaun said the Park Board has invited McMorris to present his plan to the consultants working on beach improvements.

Davis, the Stewart Beach property owner, said he would oppose the city taking over the property.

“To condemn one idea to help another isn’t the answer,” Davis said. “… I’ve worked hard with blood, sweat and tears for that land, I think there’s enough room to develop Stewart Beach as it is instead of taking private property off the tax rolls.”

Like Preble, Kathy Matteson of the University and Fish Village homeowners associations agreed that development of Stewart Beach is long overdue. She said she is not against high-rises in general, but she doesn’t want them in areas that currently have unobstructed views of the Gulf.

“That beach is for everybody. To use that and use it effectively, we will have it for years,” she said. “… We just work really hard to make this a nice town for tourists. There are enough hotels not on the beach side. Why do they have to put one right there?”